'Shaft' Reboot Casts 'Independence Day' Actor Jessie T. Usher

Christopher Patey

Jessie T. Usher

Tim Story is helming 'Son of Shaft' at New Line.

Independence Day star Jessie T. Usher is in talks to star in New Line's Shaft sequel, Son of Shaft.

Tim Story, director of Kevin Hart: What Now? and Ride Along 2, will helm the new film. Sources say the story will center on Usher's character, who is the son of John Shaft. Samuel L. Jackson is in negotiations to return for the new film.

Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow wrote the script, and Barris is producing with John Davis and Ira Napoliello.

The first Shaft movie hit theaters in 1971 and starred Richard Roundtree as the private detective who is hired to rescue a Harlem mobster’s kidnapped daughter. The film was a box office hit for MGM, earning $13 million, and the theme song won the Oscar for best original score. The film was added to the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2000.

There were two sequels, Shaft’s Big Score (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973), along with the 2000 sequel, also called Shaft, which starred Samuel L. Jackson as the nephew of the original John Shaft.

Usher, who stars on the TV series Survivor's Remorse (the fourth season will premiere Aug. 20), is a rising star who was most recently seen in the reboot Independence Day: Resurgence (playing the son of Will Smith’s character) and hit ensemble comedy Almost Christmas. He’s wrapped work on thriller Ride with Bella Thorne and the indie drama Stronghold, which he also produced. He’s repped by CAA and MGMT Entertainment.